(Closed) In response to Connecticut shooting – what do you think?

I saw this on Facebook and it was supposedly a statement made by Morgan Freeman however, it turns out there was no association and he never actually made this statement. Regardless of who wrote it, what do you think about this perspective.

“You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here’s why.

It’s because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities.

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way.

Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN‘s article says that if the body count “holds up”, this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer’s face on all their reports for hours.

Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity? None that I’ve seen yet. Because they don’t sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you’ve just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man’s name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news.”

CBS news website had a huge picture of the shooter on their front page and not of the victims. It makes me upset to see the shooters name and picture all over the place. I think they should take the picture down and put up pictures of the heros and the lives that were lost.

I won’t be watching the news for a few days because I tear up every time I turn it on. I hear there was an man from Indiana who threated to go to a nearby elementary school and “kill as many people as he could.” He was arrested Saturday but this makes me sad for the future now that this is happening in elementary schools to innocent children.

I dont know. Personally I’ve seen many articles that focus on the victims and ignore the killer’s identity. I think that “turning off the news” may be an over-reaction as well. We, the people, want to know what’s going on our country and ways that we can help to prevent this from happening again.

@MrsWBS: “I get what people are saying by that but I refuse to blame anything or anyone except the person who committed the heinous crime.” That means you refuse to consider the possibility that something is wrong with our society, whether it be our gun “control” laws or our mental health “care”. I know that you mean you believe it was entirely his fault, but you cannot pretend a person exists in a vacuum.

I somewhat agree in the sense that there are a lot of factors that potentially lead someone to make a decision. The same can also be said for all the violent video games, and the inundation of violence in movies and on TV, etc. At the end of the day, I think a conversation about mental illness is more relevant right now, and that the onus shouldn’t be taken off the monster himself. While I think the media does a fantastic job of oftentimes sensationalizing situations, the news outlets seem like the lesser of two evils compared to some other media outlets.

@peachacid:I know that you mean you believe it was entirely his fault, but you cannot pretend a person exists in a vacuum.

I completely agree with the above statement. There are SO many factors and although ultimately the killer is responsible, there is something wrong with us as a society if this happens more here than in other industrialized nations.

I prefer to see articles about the victims. They need to be remembered more than the shooter. That said, I still find such cases fascinating (not the best word for it, but I know not what else to say). Everyone wants to know why, even if it is an unanswerable question, and that why comes from the shooter.

I definitely agree with this perspective. Especially the part that says “Why a grade school? Why children? Because he’ll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.” How often do we remember the murderer’s name and not the victims. They are given a certain amount of fame in the form of infamy. To those sick people, it just might be worth it.

I don’t think it’s ALL the media’s fault, but I do think it plays a role.

I actually think that we need to know about these mass murderers. I think it’s important for us all to learn about their lives and what kind of people they were and what led them to do such a heinous crime. It could help people detect problematic people in their lives such as family members, friends, or co-workers that might need help.

But I do also believe that some of these people just want their 15 minutes of fame. Most of them, however, are mentally ill and end up killing themselves anyway so I don’t think it’s about the fame to them.

I absolutely agree. I think there should be an unwritten rule/code of conduct that we don’t make the shooter/bomber famous. I mean– it’s hard because people are interested (I certainly am— when this happens there is a natural feeling wanting to know WHO did it and why they did, and it feels like the more you know about them you might be able to figure out why they did it). And of course there is freedom of the press, as there should be. But I absolutely wonder if we simply refused to make these guys famous if these types of crimes would still seem so attractive to them.

@peachacid: Trust me I am aware no one exists in a vacuum and I’m not going to get into debates about it because I’m just far too devastated about the entire thing to engage. I will say that I fully realize the many societal factors at play here. I absolutely do not think any citizen should be able to have access to semi-automatic assault weapons capable of quickly shooting many people. The mental health issue is a whole other issue – I used to work in the field so I am aware of those issues as well.

The point is, there are plenty of people who own guns and do not kill people. There are plenty of people who live in this society which clearly has a reputation for breeding mass murderers and don’t committ those crimes. At the end of the day, each individual is responsible for his or her own actions. Unless this kid was listening to voices in his head telling him to kill those children, which we will never know, he is entirely to blame.